* Alarm: "Swedish metal quintet Meshuggah took over Chicago's Vic Theatre with Between the Buried and Me last Sunday, searing the stage with its intense, intricate drum patterns and churning, mathematical riffs paired with a truly insane light show. The performance was part of the band's current 25 Years of Deviance tour - a celebration of the groundbreaking technical work and rhythmic mayhem that has exploded from their instruments for the past quarter-century.

"The band played tracks from its entire discography, including songs that rarely have been heard live, while alternately blinding and colored lights throbbed in perfect sync with the rapid-fire beats."

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16. The Fall of Troy at Mojoes in Joliet on Sunday night.

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17. Empires on Letterman on Tuesday night.

* "It was a blur," singer Sean Van Vleet told the Trib's Luis Gomes. "The quickest two minutes and 50 seconds of my life. It was super fast."